François Bédard, M.B.A., Adm.A.
General Manager
In 1991, in a move guaranteed to assure continuing strength of leadership, the board of directors appointed François Bédard to the position of General Manager. Mr. Bédard has a diploma from the National Theatre School as well as an MBA from the École des Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC). He received a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts and was winner of the Léo Sharry scholarshipfor marketing. Mr. Bédard has held the position of assistant managing director and production director at the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde as well as that of director of the Conseil des arts de la Communauté urbaine de Montréal. He is a member of the Corporation des administrateurs agrées, founding secretary of the Conseil québecois de la musique and a member of the executive committee of the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec. He is founding secretary of the Regroupement des événements majeurs internationaux du Québec (REMI).

Father Fernand Lindsay, c.s.v., Ph.D.
Directeur artistique
Father Fernand Lindsay began studying music at a young age. He is a member of the community of Clercs de St-Viateur but leads a parallel life in music as a teacher and an involved member with a number of musical and cultural organizations. If he was the "spark" that ignited the Festival de Lanaudière, he is today the flame that fires a musical institution of international stature. The Amphitheatre in Lanaudière is the concrete realization of his dream to bring fine music to the general public. Father Fernand Lindsay is a member of the Order of Canada and an award-winning member of the Order of Quebec. He received the Quebec Tourism Excellence Prize and was the first national recipient of the Lescarbot Prize in Canada.

In November of 2002 he received the Governor General of Canada (Ramon John Hnatyshyn Prize). In June of 2003 the Faculty of Music of McGill University conferred on him an honorary doctorate.

Alex Benjamin
Programming Director
A pianist by training, Alex Benjamin studied with Robert Weisz at Université Laval and with Martin Canin and Gilbert Kalish at State University of New York at Stony Brook, where he earned his master's degree in performance. He also studied musicology at McGill University and philosophy at the Université de Montréal. Mr. Benjamin won a scholarhip from the Banff Centre and, on two occasions, the John Newmark Prize at the Prix d'Europe in 1990 and 1991.

Benjamin joined the Festival staff in 1997 as program note editor. He has been Assistant Artistic Director since October of 2000.

Maurice Rhéaume
Marketing and Communications Officer
Maurice Rhéaume is a graduate of Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC) with a graduate diploma in arts management. His professional career has been mostly in the field of arts and culture. Before he came to the Festival, he was assistant to the general manager in charge of marketing and communications at Scéno Plus. He was responsible for the promotional campaign and for public relations surrounding the opening of the Céline Dion Coliseum in Las Vegas. He has been closely involved with majors of the entertainment world, including the Cirque du Soleil, Viacom Entertainment (Los Angeles), Parkview International (London), Park Place Entertainment (Las Vegas), DRAGONE (Belgium) and many others. Mr, Rhéaume was also director of the Compagnie de création Chants Libres, the Montreal Early Music Studio and the Westmount Visual Arts Centre.

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